Sled



T. E. AND H. E. ASHBY.

SLED.

APPLICATION man 11111.11, 1911. RENEwE'n FEB. 1691920.

m1611161 S9111. 28,192@i abme/13 v VTo @ZZ whom t may/concern.' Y

' THOMAS n. vAszeiisv AND Howeann. Assisi-r, or WAY-Nn, MICHIGAN.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fuedfranuarj s, 1917, seriai No. 141,102. Renewed February 16,1920. seiai-No.;359,ao3.

E. AsHBjrv and HOWARD E.' ASHBY, citizens ,0f the United States, residing at Wayne, countyof Be vit known that we, ,THOMAS l'Vayne, State of Michigan, lhave inventeda -certain new and useful yImprovement 1n Sleds, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, `reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this speci- Ahaving a pair of fixed fication. I

This invention relates to .sleds, and its object is sled which can be easilysteered and which is provided with means for automatically returning the runners to neutral positienI upon release of the steeringv means. another objectV of the invention is a sled having the aforesaid characteristics and which is very inexpensive to manufacture. r-i'further object of the invention isa sled runners and a vpair of movable runners pivotally securedvto the forward end of the said-fixed runners and yieldable means for holding runners in neutral position. These and other objects and the several novel features of the invention in its preferred form are hereinafter more fully and shown in the accompanying drawings in whichg Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sled einlbodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the under side of the sled. y

Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective of the apparatus for steering the sled.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the drawing and specification.

The sled consists of a seat board 1 with a pair of runners 2 fixed thereto and a pair of movable runners 4 are hingedly secured to the fixed runners on the pivots 3. The movable runners 4 are connected by a cross bar 5, each runner being pivotedv to the cross bar and movable therewith. so as to swivel at the center of the cross bar 5 and the bent end of the shaft 7 on which the steering wheel 8 is mounted passes through it. The shaft outer end of the bent portion to receive a retaining nut 9 and a spring 19 is provided v which seats between the eye 6 and the re` taining nut 9 on the shaft 7 .l Theshaft 7 is held in position by a p bracket .ii aiutate t@ the movable' described and claimed Upon turning the wheel An' eye 6 is secured 7 is threaded at the/ block 10 and a metal bev-understood as being secured to' the board and apertured 4to receivel the shaft 7,

which` with the', blocl; V1O,{pro.vides`a bearing for the shaft. Thev said block 10 is formed fratentea sept. 28.19201 under side of the seatff integrally with a foot rest 18 which extends` n i across the-sled and makes a brace for theA operators.feet,V and to make the sled'stablel `three braces 15,

16 and 17 are used.

.A brake 12 is kprovided having a shaft 13y and two rods 14 Y Upon, lifting the bralrelhandle- 12 to the dottedpositioii shown in Fig. 1, Vthe ends of the rods 14 are forced into the ground entire weight of thepersons upon are also secured thereto. L

' and being secured near veach runner lthe the sled will come upon thebrake rods .14,qthus making the brake very; efcient. Another ob-` ject lin securing-the 'rods 14 -to the shaft'ly adjacent the runners 1s that the rods are securedto the shaft near the bearings thereof in ,each runner ata point where the shaft cannot spring or `willnot break'as easily as it would were the'rods 14 fastenedvnear the center thereof. The method of forming the hinge point shown at 3 is to overlap the two runner irons of the two runnersv @each runner pieces of strap ironv are secured having overlapping portions and the overand then rivet them together. In the upperpart ofv sol lapping portions are pivoted togetherso 2 that the runner 4jisy pivoted to the runner 2 at both top and bottoni.

'the runner .d'4l

will assume a position as shown lin dotted. lines in Fig. 2. When the wheel 8 is turned the shaft 7 isturned and the bent end there- A of and the eye 6 are other, thus forcing the cross bar 5 and the forced to one side or the,

two runners to which` it is pivotedV to thev position shownjin dotted lines in Fig. v2.

`When the wheel is turned to move the sled in a circle, as will be noticed more particularly in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the spring 19 is. compressed between the retaining nut 9 and the screw eye 6 and upon releasing the wheel the spring 19 will tendto expand and thus will force the runners into the position v shown in fulllines in Fig. 2. y

From the foregoing description it becomes evident that the device is of a simple nature and very efficient and convenient'in operation, and is also inexpensive ture.

. Having thus briefly described` our invention, its utility and mode of operatiomwhat to manufac-V end ninatingin a threaded portion, a retai g" nut thereon and a coiled spring nsion on said bent end between the retaining` nut tending to hold the e runners in neutral position.

a sled, a seat board, runners fixed a pi'r or niovablerunners pivoted orward end of the fixed runners, for turning the movable runners conexisting` o shaft having a steering Wheel on the unnerend thereoa block on the upper surta-ce of the seat board, and a metal bracket on the under side thereolc providing a bearing forst-id shaft, said shaft terminating` in an end bent at a right anglethereto, a crees bar connecting` the movable runners and pivoted to each runner, an eye piyoted to the cross bar at about the center thereof secure by i. Letters e enel terminating in a threaded portion, a retaining nut thereon and a coiled spring under tension on said' bent end betix/een the eye andretaining nut tending to hold the movable runners in neutral position.

3. ln a sled, a seat board, runners fixed thereto, a pair of movable runners pivoted to the forward end of the iXed runners, means turningthe movable runners consisting` of a steering` shaft having an integral bent end, a cross bar pivotally conneeted with the two movable runners, the niovable runners eaehhaving a notch in the upper edge to receive an end et the cross bar, an eye centrally pivoted to the cross l through which the said bent end ot the ste@ "u extends, said bent end having a te ,u threaded portion, a retaining nut thercoin'and a coiled spring under tension on said bent end'between the said eye and retaining nut yieldably holding the runners neutral position.

:in testimony-whereof We sign this specieation.

THMAS E. ASHBY. HGVVARD E. ASHBY.

Fh which. the said bent end entends', e 

